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英文原文
It is uncertain when, and upon what occasion, David penned this psalm, probably when he was struck at either by Saul or by Absalom; for in it he complains of the malice of his enemies against him, but triumphs in the goodness of God to him. We are here led to consider, and it will do us good to consider seriously, I. The sinfulness of sin, and how mischievous it is, Ps 36:1-4. II. The goodness of God, and how gracious he is, 1. To all his creatures in general, Ps 36:5,6. 2. To his own people in a special manner, Ps 36:7-9. By this the psalmist is encouraged to pray for all the saints (Ps 36:10), for himself in particular and his own preservation (Ps 36:11), and to triumph in the certain fall of his enemies, Ps 36:12. If, in singing this psalm, our hearts be duly affected with the hatred of sin and satisfaction in God's lovingkindness, we sing it with grace and understanding.
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The Character of the Wicked
惡人的性情
交與伶長。耶和華的僕人大衛的詩。
¹ 惡人的罪過在我心裡對我說：他眼中沒有對神的敬畏。
² 他自欺自媚，以為他的罪孽終不顯露，不被恨惡。
³ 他口中的言語盡是奸惡詭詐；他與智慧善行已經斷絕。
⁴ 他在床上圖謀奸惡，定意行不善的道，不憎惡惡事。
大衛在本篇標題中被稱為耶和華的僕人；為何在本篇（除詩18:1標題之外）如此稱呼，別無他因；但他確是如此——不僅如每一個善人都是神的僕人，更作為君王、作為先知、作為受託在世人中服事神國度利益的人——比他那時代任何人都更直接、更傑出。他以此為榮，詩116:16。作至大神的僕人，對最大的人物而言也不是貶低，而是尊榮；這是人今世所能得的最高抬舉。
大衛在這些經文中描繪惡人的邪惡；他所指的究竟是特別那些逼迫他的人，還是一切聲名狼藉、明顯犯罪的罪人，並不確定。但我們在此看到罪的因由和罪的面目，罪的根和罪的枝。
一、此處是那苦根——惡人一切的邪惡都從此而出。它源自：1. 他們對神的藐視和對神缺乏當有的敬畏（詩36:1）：「惡人的罪過（正如其後詩36:3,4所描述的）在我心裡對我說（使我在自己心中斷定）：他眼中沒有對神的敬畏；因為若有，他就決不會如此放肆地言行；他若對神的威嚴有任何敬畏、對祂的震怒有任何懼怕，就必不敢違背神的律法，背棄與祂所立的約。」因此，我國的法律恰當地把控告寫成：被告「眼中沒有神的敬畏，所以行了如此如此的事」。惡人並沒有公然否認對神的敬畏，但他的罪過卻暗中把這話傳入一切對敬虔和不敬虔的本性有所認識之人的心中。大衛據此斷定那些放蕩度日的人，乃是在世上沒有神而活。2. 源自他們的自負，以及他們存心欺騙自己的心靈（詩36:2）：他自欺自媚——就是說，他在罪中繼續前行之時，自以為行得聰明妥當，或看不見、或不肯承認自己惡行的邪惡和危險；他稱惡為善、稱善為惡；他的放蕩他說成不過是正當的自由，他的詭詐他當作自己的精明和計謀，他逼迫神的百姓，他對自己說那是必要的公義。他的良心若因他所行的責備他，他便說：「神必不究問；我儘管繼續下去，仍必平安。」請注意，罪人因自媚而成為自毀者。撒但不能欺騙他們，若不是他們先欺騙了自己。但這欺騙能持久嗎？不；那日子將到，罪人必被揭露——那時他的罪孽必被顯為可憎。罪孽是可憎的事；它是「耶和華所恨惡的那可憎之物」，祂純潔而忌邪的眼目不能容忍觀看。它對罪人自己有害，因此他本當恨惡它；卻不然；他把它藏在舌下如甘甜之物，因其中或許附帶的世俗利益和肉體歡愉；然而「這食物在他腹中要變質，成為虺蛇的毒氣」，伯20:13,14。當他們的良心被說服，罪以其真面目顯出，使他們自己成為自己的驚嚇——當震怒的杯交在他們手中、迫使他們喝盡其中的渣滓之時——那時他們的罪孽必被發現為可憎，他們的自媚乃是說不出的愚妄，更是他們定罪的加重。
二、此處是從這苦根所發出的可咒詛的枝子。罪人既向神挑戰、又將自己當作神，於是除了全然敗壞之外，還能期望甚麼呢？這兩樣正是罪最初的入口。人不敬畏神，因此便自媚，然後：1. 他們對自己所說的話毫無良心，無論真假、無論對錯（詩36:3）：他口中的言語盡是奸惡詭詐——精心設計要行不義，卻又用似是而非的藉口加以掩飾。那些欺騙自己的人，也精心設計要欺騙全人類，這並不足為奇；因為那些對自己的心靈不忠的人，還會對誰忠誠呢？2. 他們裡面原有的一點善也沒有了；美德的火花熄滅了，他們的良心責備被壓制了，他們好的起頭歸於無有：他們與智慧善行已經斷絕。他們看來似乎在智慧的指引和宗教的治理之下，卻把這些繩索掙斷了；他們丟棄了自己的宗教，也隨之丟棄了自己的智慧。請注意，那些停止行善的人，也停止了作智慧人。3. 既停止行善，他們便設計作惡，攪擾周圍那些行善的好人（詩36:4）：他在床上圖謀奸惡。請注意，(1) 忽略為犯罪開了門。當人停止行善、停止禱告、停止對神典章的敬拜和對祂的本分之時，魔鬼便輕易地使他們作自己的差役、自己的器皿——把那些可被引誘的人引入罪中，至於那些不肯的人，則把他們引入患難。那些停止行善的人，便開始行惡；魔鬼既從無辜中背道，很快就成了夏娃的試探者、義人亞伯的逼迫者。(2) 行奸惡固然不好，設計奸惡更為惡劣——蓄意堅決地行，動用腦筋去籌畫最有效地行，帶著計謀和手腕，又如古蛇那樣帶著狡猾和惡意去行；在床上圖謀——那原當默想神和祂話語之處，彌2:1。這證明罪人的心已堅定要行惡。4. 既進了罪惡之路——那不善的路，其中既無善，其盡頭也無善——他們便堅持並決心在其中堅忍。他定意執行他所圖謀的奸惡，凡他所定意要行的，一樣也不保留，儘管那既違背他的本分、又違背他的真正利益。罪人若不是以頑梗和厚顏使心剛硬、使臉無恥，就不能在自己邪惡的道路上繼續前行——如此直接地反對一切公義和良善。5. 自己行惡，對別人行惡也毫無厭惡：他不憎惡惡事——反而在其中得著喜悅，樂見別人與自己一樣壞。或者這可表明他在罪中的不悔改。那些犯了惡的人，若神賜他們悔改，便會厭惡自己所行的惡，並因這惡厭惡自己；這惡在反省中是苦的，儘管在實行時是甘甜的。但這些剛硬的罪人，良心如此麻木遲鈍，以致事後對自己的罪從不反悔、毫無懊悔，反而堅持自己所行的，好像能在神自己面前稱義一樣。
有人認為大衛這番話特別指著掃羅——掃羅已拋棄對神的敬畏，丟棄了一切良善；他把女兒給大衛為妻之時假意施恩，同時卻在圖謀奸惡。但我們在解釋上不必如此局限；我們當中就有太多人與這描述相符，這是極當哀歎的。
英文原文
The Character of the Wicked
To the chief Musician. A psalm of David the servant of the Lord.
¹ The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.
² For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful.
³ The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good.
⁴ He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil.
David, in the title of this psalm, is styled the servant of the Lord; why in this, and not in any other, except in Ps 18:1 (title), no reason can be given; but so he was, not only as every good man is God's servant, but as a king, as a prophet, as one employed in serving the interests of God's kingdom among men more immediately and more eminently than any other in his day. He glories in it, Ps 116:16. It is no disparagement, but an honour, to the greatest of men, to be the servants of the great God; it is the highest preferment a man is capable of in this world.
David, in these verses, describes the wickedness of the wicked; whether he means his persecutors in particular, or all notorious gross sinners in general, is not certain. But we have here sin in its causes and sin in its colours, in its root and in its branches.
I. Here is the root of bitterness, from which all the wickedness of the wicked comes. It takes rise, 1. From their contempt of God and the want of a due regard to him (Ps 36:1): "The transgression of the wicked (as it is described afterwards, Ps 36:3,4) saith within my heart (makes me to conclude within myself) that there is no fear of God before his eyes; for, if there were, he would not talk and act so extravagantly as he does; he would not, he durst not, break the laws of God, and violate his covenants with him, if he had any awe of his majesty or dread of his wrath." Fitly therefore is it brought into the form of indictments by our law that the criminal, not having the fear of God before his eyes, did so and so. The wicked did not openly renounce the fear of God, but their transgression whispered it secretly into the minds of all those that knew any thing of the nature of piety and impiety. David concluded concerning those who lived at large that they lived without God in the world. 2. From their conceit of themselves and a cheat they wilfully put upon their own souls (Ps 36:2): He flattereth himself in his own eyes; that is, while he goes on in sin, he thinks he does wisely and well for himself, and either does not see or will not own the evil and danger of his wicked practices; he calls evil good and good evil; his licentiousness he pretends to be but his just liberty, his fraud passes for his prudence and policy, and his persecuting the people of God, he suggests to himself, is a piece of necessary justice. If his own conscience threaten him for what he does, he says, God will not require it; I shall have peace though I go on. Note, Sinners are self-destroyers by being self-flatterers. Satan could not deceive them if they did not deceive themselves. But will the cheat last always? No; the day is coming when the sinner will be undeceived, when his iniquity shall be found to be hateful. Iniquity is a hateful thing; it is that abominable thing which the Lord hates, and which his pure and jealous eye cannot endure to look upon. It is hurtful to the sinner himself, and therefore ought to be hateful to him; but it is not so; he rolls it under his tongue as a sweet morsel, because of the secular profit and sensual pleasure which may attend it; yet the meat in his bowels will be turned, it will be the gall of asps, Job 20:13,14. When their consciences are convinced, and sin appears in its true colours and makes them a terror to themselves—when the cup of trembling is put into their hands and they are made to drink the dregs of it—then their iniquity will be found hateful, and their self-flattery their unspeakable folly, and an aggravation of their condemnation.
II. Here are the cursed branches which spring from this root of bitterness. The sinner defies God, and even deifies himself, and then what can be expected but that he should go all to naught? These two were the first inlets of sin. Men do not fear God, and therefore they flatter themselves, and then, 1. They make no conscience of what they say, true of false, right or wrong (Ps 36:3): The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit, contrived to do wrong, and yet to cover it with specious and plausible pretences. It is no marvel if those that deceive themselves contrive how to deceive all mankind; for to whom will those be true who are false to their own souls? 2. What little good there has been in them is gone; the sparks of virtue are extinguished, their convictions baffled, their good beginnings come to nothing: They have left off to be wise and to do good. They seemed to be under the direction of wisdom and the government of religion, but they have broken these bonds asunder; they have shaken off their religion, and therewith their wisdom. Note, Those that leave off to do good leave off to be wise. 3. Having left off to do good, they contrive to do hurt and to be vexatious to those about them that are good and do good (Ps 36:4): He devises mischief upon his bed. Note, (1.) Omissions make way for commissions. When men leave off doing good, leave off praying, leave off their attendance on God's ordinances and their duty to him, the devil easily makes them his agents, his instruments to draw those that will be drawn into sin, and, with respect to those that will not, to draw them into trouble. Those that leave off to do good begin to do evil; the devil, being an apostate from his innocency, soon became a tempter to Eve and a persecutor of righteous Abel. (2.) It is bad to do mischief, but it is worse to devise it, to do it deliberately and with resolution, to set the wits on work to contrive to do it most effectually, to do it with plot and management, with the subtlety, as well as the malice, of the old serpent, to devise it upon the bed, where we should be meditating upon God and his word, Mic 2:1. This argues the sinner's heart fully set in him to do evil. 4. Having entered into the way of sin, that way that is not good, that has good neither in it nor at the end of it, they persist and resolve to persevere in that way. He sets himself to execute the mischief he has devised, and nothing shall be withholden from him which he has purposed to do, though it be ever to contrary both to his duty and to his true interest. If sinners did not steel their hearts and brazen their faces with obstinacy and impudence, they could not go on in their evil ways, in such a direct opposition to all that is just and good. 5. Doing evil themselves, they have no dislike at all of it in others: He abhors not evil, but on the contrary, takes pleasure in it, and is glad to see others as bad as himself. Or this may denote his impenitency in sin. Those that have done evil, if God give them repentance, abhor the evil they have done and themselves because of it; it is bitter in the reflection, however sweet it was in the commission. But these hardened sinners have such seared stupefied consciences that they never reflect upon their sins afterwards with any regret or remorse, but stand to what they have done, as if they could justify it before God himself.
Some think that David, in all this, particularly means Saul, who had cast off the fear of God and left off all goodness, who pretended kindness to him when he gave him his daughter to wife, but at the same time was devising mischief against him. But we are under no necessity of limiting ourselves so in the exposition of it; there are too many among us to whom the description agrees, which is to be greatly lamented.
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The Amazing Goodness of God; Favour of God towards His People;
神奇妙的良善；神對他百姓的恩寵
⁵ 耶和華啊，你的慈愛上及諸天；你的信實達到雲霄。
⁶ 你的公義好像高山；你的判斷如同深淵。耶和華啊，人民、牲畜，你都救護。
⁷ 神啊，你的慈愛何其寶貴！世人投靠在你翅膀的蔭下。
⁸ 他們必因你殿裡的肥甘得以飽足；你也必叫他們喝你樂河的水。
⁹ 因為，在你那裡有生命的源頭；在你的光中，我們必得見光。
¹⁰ 願你常施慈愛給認識你的人，常以公義待心裡正直的人。
¹¹ 不容驕傲人的腳踐踏我；不容惡人的手趕逐我。
¹² 在那裡，作孽的人已經仆倒；他們被推倒，不能再起來。
大衛滿懷憂傷地觀看惡人的惡行之後，在此欣慰地仰望神的良善——這題目與前題同樣令人舒暢，正可放在天平的另一端與之對照。當觀察，
一、 他對神恩典的默想。他看見世界被惡行的過犯所污染，自己遭危險，神被羞辱；但他忽然把眼目、心意和話語轉向神：「無論如何，你是善的。」他在此承認，
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神本性中那超越的完全。在人類之中我們常要抱怨：無誠實、無良善（何 4:1），無公平、無公義（賽 5:7）。然而在神裡面，這一切都毫無攙雜地可得著。世上無論缺了甚麼、無論有甚麼不對，我們確知那位治理世界的主毫無缺欠、毫無不對。(1) 他是用之不竭的良善之神：耶和華啊，你的慈愛上及諸天。人若將憐憫的腸腸關閉，但在神那裡，在他的施恩寶座前，我們必尋見憐憫。當人設法謀害我們時，神對我們的心意——只要我們緊緊跟隨他——卻是賜平安的心意。在地上我們遇見很少滿足，多是擾亂和失望；但在天上，神的慈愛掌權，完美無瑕，存到永遠，那裡有一切滿足；所以我們若要安泰，就當在那裡有我們的交往，並切慕到那裡去。無論世界多壞，我們不可因此對神或他的治理看法變壞；反倒要因世人中間極大的罪惡，不去責難神的聖潔——彷彿他縱容罪惡——而趁機讚嘆他的忍耐，他竟容忍那些如此公然挑釁他的人這麼久，更叫他的日頭照耀、雨水降在他們身上。神的慈愛若不在天上（即無限超乎一切受造物的慈愛），他早就再次用洪水淹沒世界了（參賽 55:8,9，何 11:9）。(2) 他是不可違背的真理之神：你的信實達到雲霄。神雖任憑惡人作了許多損害，他卻對自己所發反對罪的警告是信實的，必有一日要與他們算賬；他也對自己與百姓所立的約是信實的——這約不能被破壞，其中一點一畫也不能因地上和地獄的一切惡意而落空。這是一切良善之人的大安慰：人雖虛謊，神卻信實；人說虛妄的話，神的言語卻是純淨的言語。神的信實高達諸天，不隨天氣改變——如人的信實那樣；因為它達到穹蒼（有人如此讀），在雲層之上，超越低層區域的一切變化。(3) 他是無可爭辯的公義和公平之神：你的公義好像高山，本身不可動搖、毫不屈撓，又向世人顯明而易見；因為沒有別的真理比這更確定、更清楚：耶和華在他一切所行的道上無不公平，他從未、也永不會虧待他的任何受造物。即使密雲和幽暗在他的四圍，公義和公平是他寶座的根基（詩 97:2）。(4) 他是不可測度的智慧和計畫之神：你的判斷如同深淵，不能用任何有限悟性的測錘繩索來測量。他的能力是主權的——他無須向我們交代；他的方法也是獨特隱秘的——我們不能加以解釋：*他的路在海中，他的大路在深水中。*我們知道他所行的都智慧美好；但他如今所行的我們不知道；將來知道才合適。
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神護理的廣大眷顧和恩慈：人民、牲畜，你都救護，不僅保護他們免受損害，更供應他們維持生命所需。牲畜雖不能認識讚美神，卻仍蒙恩得著供應；牠們的眼目仰望他，他按時賜牠們食物。我們不要希奇神賜食物給壞人，因為他也餵養牲畜；也不要怕神不會為好人妥善預備——那餵養少壯獅子的，必不會使自己的兒女饑餓。
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神對聖徒特別的恩寵。當觀察，
(1) 他們的特徵（詩 36:7）。他們是被神慈愛的寶貴吸引，以致投靠在他翅膀的蔭下的人。〔1〕神的慈愛對他們是寶貴的。他們品味它；他們在其中嘗到超越的甘甜；他們仰慕神的美麗和恩慈，過於世上任何事物，沒有甚麼更可親、更可慕。不仰慕神慈愛的人不認識神；不懇切渴慕神慈愛的人不認識自己。〔2〕因此他們以完全的信靠安息在他裡面。他們投靠他，把自己置於他的保護之下，便自覺安全、坦然，如同小雞在母雞的翅膀下（太 23:37）。歸信者的特徵正是他們來投靠以色列神的翅膀下（得 2:12）；而引導人歸信的，還有甚麼比他慈愛的寶貴更合適呢？還有甚麼更能吸引我們向他、並集中在他身上的喜悅呢？那被愛吸引的人必緊緊跟隨他。
(2) 他們的特權。有福了，三倍有福了，那以耶和華為神的百姓！因為在他裡面他們已經得著、可以得著、也必得著完全的幸福。〔1〕他們的願望必蒙應允（詩 36:8）：他們必因你殿裡的肥甘得以飽足，他們的缺乏得著供應，渴求得著滿足，容量得著充滿。在豐盛全足的神裡面，他們必得著一切——一切蒙光照、擴充的靈魂所能渴慕或領受的。世界的收益和感官的樂趣使人膩煩，卻不能使人滿足（賽 55:2）；但神恩寵和恩典的賜予能使人滿足，卻永不使人膩煩。恩典的靈雖然仍渴望更多得著神，卻從不渴慕多於神。護理的恩賜使他們感到滿足，以致他們以現有的為足。我樣樣都有，並且有餘（腓 4:18）。聖潔典章的益處就是神殿中的肥甘，對成聖的靈魂是甘甜的，對屬靈和屬神的生命是剛強的。他們因此得以豐足飽足；他們在今世別無所求，只願過與神相交的生活，並享受應許的安慰。然而那完全的、豐盛的滿足是為將來的光景保留的——那不是人手所造、在天上永遠的房屋。在那裡每一個器皿都要滿溢。〔2〕他們的喜樂必是持續的：你也必叫他們喝你樂河的水。 第一，有真正屬神的樂趣。「它們是你的樂趣，不僅是從你這賜予者而來，更是以你為這樂趣的內容和中心。」因為它們純粹屬靈，與上界榮耀居民的樂趣同性質，甚至與永恆的心意的喜樂有某種相似。第二，有這些樂趣的河，常常滿溢，常常清新，常常湧流。足夠眾人，也足夠每一個（參詩 46:4）。感官之樂是腐臭的積水；信心之樂卻是純淨可悅的，清晰如水晶（啟 22:1）。第三，神不僅為他的百姓預備了這樂河，更使他們喝它——在他們裡面動工，使他們對這些樂趣生發恩典的胃口，又借他的靈以信中的喜樂平安充滿他們的靈魂。在天上他們要永遠飲於那在神右手裡的樂趣，得著滿足的喜樂而飽足（詩 16:11）。〔3〕生命和亮光將是他們永遠的福分和產業（詩 36:9）。既有神自己作他們的福樂，*第一，*在他裡面他們有生命的泉源，由此湧出那些樂趣的河（詩 36:8）。自然之神是自然生命的泉源——我們生活、動作、存留都在乎他。恩典之神是屬靈生命的泉源。成聖之靈的一切力量和安慰、她一切恩典的原理、能力和作為，都是出於神。他是她一切對屬神事物的感覺的泉源和源頭，也是她一切向屬神事物行動的源頭：他要使誰活潑，就使誰活潑；願意的都可以來，白白取生命的水。他是永生的泉源。得榮耀聖徒的福樂在於對他的看見和享受，在於他愛的直接賜予，毫無中斷，也無停止之慮。*第二，*在他裡面他們有完美中的亮光——智慧、知識和喜樂，都包括在這亮光之內：*在你的光中，我們必得見光。*那就是，1.「在恩典中對你的認識裡，在榮耀中對你的看見裡，我們必得著那充充足足應付並滿足我們悟性的。」那照射在聖經裡、特別照射在基督這世界之光的臉上的屬神亮光，包含了一切真理。當我們到幔內面對面看見神時，必得見亮光的完全，那時我們就知道夠了（林前 13:12，約壹 3:2）。2.「在如今與你的相交裡——借著你恩典向我們的賜予，以及我們敬虔情感向你的回歸，並不久在天上對你的享受——我們必得著完全的幸福和滿足。在你的恩寵裡，我們有一切所能渴慕的美福。」這是一個幽暗的世界；我們在其中少見安慰；但在屬天的亮光裡，有真的亮光，沒有假的亮光，亮光長存永不消減。在這世上，我們借受造物和憑藉看見神、享受他；但在天上，神要親自與我們同在（啟 21:3），我們要直接看見他、享受他。
二、 我們在此有大衛根據這些默想所發的禱告、代求和聖潔的誇勝。
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他為一切聖徒代求，求他們常經歷神恩寵和恩典的益處與安慰（詩 36:10）。(1) 他所求的人，是那些認識神、與神熟識、承認神、又承認神為己有的人——那些心裡正直的人，就是那些在宗教信仰上真誠，對神對人都忠心的人。對神不正直的人，並不像他們所當有的那樣認識神。(2) 他為他們所求的福分，是神的慈愛（就是神向他們施恩的憑據）和他的公義（就是神在他們裡面恩典的運行）；或說他的慈愛和公義就是他照應許而施的良善；就是憐憫和誠實。(3) 他渴望這福分臨到的方式：願你常施，把它抽出來，如同母親把乳房伸向孩子，孩子便從乳房吸出奶來。願它被延展，長度與永恆的線相等。聖徒在天上的福樂必是完全的，卻又是持續長進的（有人如此想）；因為那裡的泉源常常滿溢，水流常常湧流。在其中必有長久的事（賽 64:4〔和合本 64:5〕）。
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他為自己求，使他可以在正直和安慰中被保守（詩 36:11）：「不容驕傲人的腳踐踏我，不容它絆我的腳跟，也不容它踐踏我；不容惡人的手——那伸出來攻擊我的手——趕逐我，無論借任何試探把我從我的清潔正直中趕出，或借任何患難把我從我的平安安慰中趕出。」不容那些攻擊神的人，向那些渴望緊緊跟隨他的人誇勝。那些已經歷過與神相交之樂的人，不能不渴望沒有任何事物能使他們離開他。
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他以仇敵終必傾倒的盼望為樂（詩 36:12）：「在那裡，就是他們想要勝過我的地方，他們自己卻已仆倒，被自己為我所設的網羅捉住。」在那裡，在另一個世界裡（有人如此說），聖徒在審判中站立，在神的殿中有分，作孽的人卻在審判中被定罪，被推倒入地獄，入無底坑中，在神忿怒和咒詛無法擔當的重壓之下，他們確定永不能起來。我們誠然不可因我們某個仇敵跌倒而歡喜；然而一切作孽之人的最終傾覆，將是得榮耀聖徒永遠的誇勝。
英文原文
The Amazing Goodness of God; Favour of God towards His People;
⁵ Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.
⁶ Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast.
⁷ How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.
⁸ They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.
⁹ For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.
¹⁰ O continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart.
¹¹ Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me.
¹² There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise.
David, having looked round with grief upon the wickedness of the wicked, here looks up with comfort upon the goodness of God, a subject as delightful as the former was distasteful and very proper to be set in the balance against it. Observe,
I. His meditations upon the grace of God. He sees the world polluted, himself endangered, and God dishonoured, by the transgressions of the wicked; but, of a sudden, he turns his eye, and heart, and speech, to God "However it be, yet thou art good." He here acknowledges,
1. The transcendent perfections of the divine nature. Among men we have often reason to complain, There is no truth nor mercy, (Ho 4:1), no judgment nor justice, Isa 5:7. But all these may be found in God without the least alloy. Whatever is missing, or amiss, in the world, we are sure there is nothing missing, nothing amiss, in him that governs it. (1.) He is a God of inexhaustible goodness: Thy mercy, O Lord! is in the heavens. If men shut up the bowels of their compassion, yet with God, at the throne of his grace, we shall find mercy. When men are devising mischief against us God's thoughts concerning us, if we cleave closely to him, are thoughts of good. On earth we meet with little content and a great deal of disquiet and disappointment; but in the heavens, where the mercy of God reigns in perfection and to eternity, there is all satisfaction; there therefore, if we would be easy, let us have our conversation, and there let us long to be. How bad soever the world is, let us never think the worse of God nor of his government; but, from the abundance of wickedness that is among men, let us take occasion, instead of reflecting upon God's purity, as if he countenanced sin, to admire his patience, that he bears so much with those that so impudently provoke him, nay, and causes his sun to shine and his rain to fall upon them. If God's mercy were not in the heavens (that is, infinitely above the mercies of any creature), he would, long ere this, have drowned the world again. See Isa 55:8,9, Ho 11:9. (2.) He is a God of inviolable truth: Thy faithfulness reaches unto the clouds. Though God suffers wicked people to do a great deal of mischief, yet he is and will be faithful to his threatenings against sin, and there will come a day when he will reckon with them; he is faithful also to his covenant with his people, which cannot be broken, nor one jot or tittle of the promises of it defeated by all the malice of earth and hell. This is matter of great comfort to all good people, that, though men are false, God is faithful; men speak vanity, but the words of the Lord are pure words. God's faithfulness reaches so high that it does not change with the weather, as men's does, for it reaches to the skies (so it should be read, as some think), above the clouds, and all the changes of the lower region. (3.) He is a God of incontestable justice and equity: Thy righteousness is like the great mountains, so immovable and inflexible itself and so conspicuous and evident to all the world; for no truth is more certain nor more plain than this, That the Lord is righteous in all his ways, and that he never did, nor ever will do, any wrong to any of his creatures. Even when clouds and darkness are round about him, yet judgment and justice are the habitation of his throne, Ps 97:2. (4.) He is a God of unsearchable wisdom and design: "Thy judgments are a great deep, not to be fathomed with the line and plummet of any finite understanding." As his power is sovereign, which he owes not any account of to us, so his method is singular and mysterious, which cannot be accounted for by us: His way is in the sea and his path in the great waters. We know that he does all wisely and well; but what he does we know not now; it will be time enough to know hereafter.
2. The extensive care and beneficence of the divine Providence: "Thou preservest man and beast, not only protectest them from mischief, but suppliest them with that which is needful for the support of life." The beasts, though not capable of knowing and praising God, are yet graciously provided for; their eyes wait on him, and he gives them their meat in due season. Let us not wonder that God gives food to bad men, for he feeds the brute-creatures; and let us not fear but that he will provide well for good men; he that feeds the young lions will not starve his own children.
3. The peculiar favour of God to the saints. Observe,
(1.) Their character, Ps 36:7. They are such as are allured by the excellency of God's loving-kindness to put their trust under the shadow of his wings. [1.] God's loving-kindness is precious to them. They relish it; they taste a transcendent sweetness in it; they admire God's beauty and benignity above any thing in this world, nothing so amiable, so desirable. Those know not God that do not admire his loving-kindness; and those know not themselves that do not earnestly covet it. [2.] They therefore repose an entire confidence in him. They have recourse to him, put themselves under his protection, and then think themselves safe and find themselves easy, as the chickens under the wings of the hen, Mt 23:37. It was the character of proselytes that they came to trust under the wings of the God of Israel (Ru 2:12); and what more proper to gather proselytes than the excellency of his loving-kindness? What more powerful to engage our complacency to him and on him? Those that are thus drawn by love will cleave to him.
(2.) Their privilege. Happy, thrice happy, the people whose God is the Lord, for in him they have, or may have, or shall have, a complete happiness. [1.] Their desires shall be answered, (Ps 36:8): They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house, their wants supplied; their cravings gratified, and their capacities filled. In God all-sufficient they shall have enough, all that which an enlightened enlarged soul can desire or receive. The gains of the world and the delights of sense will surfeit, but never satisfy, Isa 55:2. But the communications of divine favour and grace will satisfy, but never surfeit. A gracious soul, though still desiring more of God, never desires more than God. The gifts of Providence so far satisfy them that they are content with such things as they have. I have all, and abound, Php 4:18. The benefit of holy ordinances is the fatness of God's house, sweet to a sanctified soul and strengthening to the spiritual and divine life. With this they are abundantly satisfied; they desire nothing more in this world than to live a life of communion with God and to have the comfort of the promises. But the full, the abundant satisfaction is reserved for the future state, the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Every vessel will be full there. [2.] Their joys shall be constant: Thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. First, There are pleasures that are truly divine. "They are thy pleasures, not only which come from thee as the giver of them, but which terminate in thee as the matter and centre of them." Being purely spiritual, they are of the same nature with those of the glorious inhabitants of the upper world, and bear some analogy even to the delights of the Eternal Mind. Secondly, There is a river of these pleasures, always full, always fresh, always flowing. There is enough for all, enough for each; see Ps 46:4. The pleasures of sense are putrid puddle-water; those of faith are pure and pleasant, clear as crystal, Re 22:1. Thirdly, God has not only provided this river of pleasures for his people, but he makes them to drink of it, works in them a gracious appetite to these pleasures, and by his Spirit fills their souls with joy and peace in believing. In heaven they shall be for ever drinking of those pleasures that are at God's right hand, satiated with a fulness of joy, Ps 16:11. [3.] Life and light shall be their everlasting bliss and portion, Ps 36:9. Having God himself for their felicity, First, In him they have a fountain of life, from which those rivers of pleasure flow, Ps 36:8. The God of nature is the fountain of natural life. In him we live, and move, and have our being. The God of grace is the fountain of spiritual life. All the strength and comfort of a sanctified soul, all its gracious principles, powers, and performances, are from God. He is the spring and author of all its sensations of divine things, and all its motions towards them: he quickens whom he will; and whosoever will may come, and take from him of the waters of life freely. He is the fountain of eternal life. The happiness of glorified saints consists in the vision and fruition of him, and in the immediate communications of his love, without interruption or fear of cessation. Secondly, In him they have light in perfection, wisdom, knowledge, and joy, all included in this light: In thy light we shall see light, that is, 1. "In the knowledge of thee in grace, and the vision of thee in glory, we shall have that which will abundantly suit and satisfy our understandings." That divine light which shines in the scripture, and especially in the face of Christ, the light of the world, has all truth in it. When we come to see God face to face, within the veil, we shall see light in perfection, we shall know enough then, 1Co 13:12, 1Jo 3:2. 2. "In communion with thee now; by the communications of thy grace to us and the return of our devout affections to thee, and in the fruition of thee shortly in heaven, we shall have a complete felicity and satisfaction. In thy favour we have all the good we can desire." This is a dark world; we see little comfort in it; but in the heavenly light there is true light, and no false light, light that is lasting and never wastes. In this world we see God, and enjoy him by creatures and means; but in heaven God himself shall be with us (Re 21:3) and we shall see and enjoy him immediately.
II. We have here David's prayers, intercessions, and holy triumphs, grounded upon these meditations.
1. He intercedes for all saints, begging that they may always experience the benefit and comfort of God's favour and grace, Ps 36:10. (1.) The persons he prays for are those that know God, that are acquainted with him, acknowledge him, and avouch him for theirs—the upright in heart, that are sincere in their profession of religion, and faithful both to God and man. Those that are not upright with God do not know him as they should. (2.) The blessing he begs for them is God's loving-kindness (that is, the tokens of his favour towards them) and his righteousness (that is, the workings of his grace in them); or his loving-kindness and righteousness are his goodness according to promise; they are mercy and truth. (3.) The manner in which he desires this blessing may be conveyed: O continue it, draw it out, as the mother draws out her breasts to the child, and then the child draws out the milk from the breasts. Let it be drawn out to a length equal to the line of eternity itself. The happiness of the saints in heaven will be in perfection, and yet in continual progression (as some thing); for the fountain there will be always full and the streams always flowing. In these is continuance, Isa 64:5.
2. He prays for himself, that he might be preserved in his integrity and comfort (Ps 36:11): "Let not the foot of pride come against me, to trip up my heels, or trample upon me; and let not the hand of the wicked, which is stretched out against me, prevail to remove me, either from my purity and integrity, by any temptation, or from my peace and comfort, by any trouble." Let not those who fight against God triumph over those who desire to cleave to him. Those that have experienced the pleasure of communion with God cannot but desire that nothing may ever remove them from him.
3. He rejoices in hope of the downfall of all his enemies in due time (Ps 36:12): "There, where they thought to gain the point against me, they have themselves fallen, been taken in that snare which they laid for me." There, in the other world (so some), where the saints stand in the judgment, and have a place in God's house, the workers of iniquity are cast in the judgment, are cast down into hell, into the bottomless pit, out of which they shall assuredly never be able to rise from under the insupportable weight of God's wrath and curse. It is true we are not to rejoice when any particular enemy of ours falls; but the final overthrow of all the workers of iniquity will be the everlasting triumph of glorified saints.
大衛於何時、因何緣故寫了這詩，並不確定，大概是在他遭掃羅或押沙龍攻擊之時；因為他在其中哀訴敵人對他的惡意，卻因神對他的良善而誇勝。
我們在此被引導去思想——並且認真思想必對我們有益：一、罪的罪性，以及它是何等敗壞（詩三六1-4）。二、神的良善，以及祂是何等恩慈：1. 對祂一切受造之物整體而言（詩三六5,6）。2. 對祂自己的百姓特別而言（詩三六7-9）。
詩人因此受鼓勵而為眾聖徒禱告（詩三六10），為他自己並他自己的保護特別禱告（詩三六11），並因敵人必然的傾覆而誇勝（詩三六12）。
我們唱這詩時，若我們的心合宜地因恨惡罪、因滿足於神的慈愛而受感動，便是以恩典和知識唱這詩了。